A work of art is displayed Wednesday in Little Rock, within the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art iPhone app, right, over another phone displaying the apps download site. The museum launched apps for iPhone and iPad Wednesday that include audio tours and other features for the museum scheduled to open Friday, in Bentonville. (ASSOCIATED PRESS / Danny Johnston)

LITTLE ROCK — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art launched a free app for iPhone and iPad on Wednesday that offers audio tours of the expansive facility in Bentonville.

The museum officially opens Friday, though it's opening a day earlier for people who paid for memberships. There's no admission fee to see the regular collection and there's also no charge for the audio tours, either through the free downloadable application or on customary take-along players that patrons can check out at the front desk.

Walmart heiress Alice Walton is the museum's chief backer and the pieces that people can learn about via the app are mainly her acquisitions. Walton hasn't said how much the museum cost, but it is endowed by $800 million from the Walton Family Foundation.

The app includes three tours of the museum, including a 27-stop tour of the highlights of the collection, a circuit that's estimated to take two hours.

A 45-minute architectural tour has four stops that center on the work of architect Moshe Safdie. It includes a look at the museum's construction over a streambed in a wooded ravine and at the materials used in the buildings, as well as the center's sustainability features.

There's also a 60-minute, seven-stop tour called Wonder World, which takes in works from the collection that are now in a space that will be later devoted to traveling exhibitions.

The tours include high-resolution photographs of the works and architectural features, the focus of which are the two main buildings, which span ponds fed by a clear-running stream.

The museum will have free Wi-Fi in its public areas, but it may not be practical to download the app at the start of a visit. The app consumes 486 megabytes, about a half-gig and it takes a fair amount of time to download. Contrast that to the popular Facebook app, which weighs in at a mere 9.5 megabytes.

Downloading the app requires a Wi-Fi or wired computer connection.

The app also includes maps of the museum buildings and of the trails amid the 120 acres of woodland that surrounds the museum. Sculptures are placed throughout the trail areas and those works are noted on the app.

Also included is a section with basic museum information, such as operating hours, food availability and other services.